Giannes Fleischer

Giannes Fleischer (15 August 1920-17 October 2009) was an Israeli Lieutenant-Colonel. Fleischer fought in the Israeli War of Independence and the other battles of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

Biography
Giannes Fleischer was born in Czestochowa, Poland to a family of Ashkenazim. His father Andreas Fleischer was a cement factory worker while his mother Anna Sokolovaya was a housewife. Fleischer's father and his family were exterminated during the Holocaust, but his mother was one of the lucky Jews that was able to pass off as a Pole and not be sent to a camp. Fleischer stayed with his mother, and he made aliyah to Israel in 1948.

Fleischer became a member of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) when he arrived in Israel, and he fought in the Israeli War of Independence in 1948-1949. Fleischer was the commandder of Jewish forces defending the settlement of Kibbutz Teimanim, a Yemenite Jewish settlement, repelling an Arab attack. Fleischer was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1955 after years of fighting Palestinian raids, and he retired from command in 1985 after several jobs commanding IDF units against the Palestinians. He died in 2009 in Tiberias.